Development of A New Alloy for SOFC Interconnects

Recently, metallic materials, especially Fe-Cr ferritic alloys (ex. ZMG232L), are promising as interconnect materials of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) operated at around medium temperatures such as 700 - 850 degrees C. These alloys are usually machined or pressed into various shapes of interconnect parts, and thickness of these parts is often thin. As for these alloys, good oxidation resistance and good electrical conductivity in very thin sheets are required. Moreover, it is needed to reduce Cr evaporation from Cr2O3 layer of alloy surface, because Cr evaporation causes the degradation of the cell. In this study, the effect of chemical compositions on required properties at elevated temperature was investigated on the basis of our previously developed alloy, and a new alloy with excellent oxidation resistance, and reduced Cr-evaporation was developed.